The Ransomware BlackCat Gang Is Alleged To Be Behind Cyber Attacks To GSE

Serangan ransomawre melanda perusahaan energi Italia, GES. (foto: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - The BlackCat hacker group is known to have been behind the recent attack on the Italian state-owned energy service company GSE. They stole large amounts of data and threatened to publish it if their demands were not met.

In ransomware attacks, hackers steal data and threaten their victims with data leaks, often blackmailing them into paying cryptocurrencies.

BlackCat, also known as ALPHV, emerged in mid-November last year and is known for launching advanced attacks on a number of companies across the US and Europe.

Pada Jumat, 2 September mereka mengklaim telah mengunduh 700 gigabyte data dari GSE, termasuk informasi tentang proyek, kontrak dan accounting, dan mengunggah gambar dokumen dari peretasan.

"BlackCat has a history of targeting organizations in the energy industry and is highly active," said Ryan Olson, vice president of threat intelligence at Unit 42, a division of cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks.

"We tracked 136 victims worldwide posted to their leak site so far in 2022," he told Reuters.

GSE declined to comment on the report. It was previously reported that a hacking attack occurred between Sunday and Monday.

"The average recovery cost from ransomware attacks is estimated at 1.85 million US dollars (Rp27.5 billion)," said Walter Raffinoni, CEO of NTT Data Italia.

"In Italy, the phenomenon increased 350% last year, with 1.9% of Italian companies experiencing this type of attack every week," said Raffinoni.

Last month the computer network of Italy's oil company, Eni, was also hacked, although the company has so far said the consequences appear small.

According to Olson, on the dark website, BlackCat posted 12 victims in June, 26 victims in July and so far two victims in August.